Cameron HeroldFounder of the COO Alliance & Invest In Your Leaders Training

Most COOs Don’t Qualify for the Job

30 Nov 2025 · 1 min

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Cameron Herold says most people with the COO title don't actually qualify. A real COO needs strategic authority, P&L ownership, and compensation between $250,000 and $550,000. Calling a $120,000 director a COO inflates their title without giving them the role's real responsibilities.

Questions this video answers

$250,000–$550,000

$312,000 (reported as the speaker's COO salary 18 years prior)

$120,000 (example of a person who should be a director, not a COO)

Chapters

To be a true chief operating officer or a Chief Financial Officer, etc. You have to come in with a level of strategic insight where you're actually helping to direct the direction of the organization. You come in with a level of autonomy where you actually can say here's all the stuff that needs to get done. And the CEO goes thank God I didn't know what to do. Brian didn't give me anything to do for five years. I was showing him what needed to happen. You have a level of P and L and budget responsibility and the ability to, to actually manage a P and L and budgets. You bring people and partners into the company with you and then your compensation is actually valid compared to what the title is. If you have $120,000 person, they're not a COO, they're a director. A true COO is in the 250 to 550 range. I was getting paid $312,000 18 years ago I was a COO. So be careful with the title you give people.